Said the president: "I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

As Sarah Posner at Religion Dispatches notes[3], Obama's Christian faith played a role in coming to this conclusion. "When we think about our faith," the president said, "The thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated."

Obama's newly clarified position is sure to upset many within the Catholic Church, especially in places such as Minnesota[4] and Washington[5], where Catholic bishops have been leading campaigns against measures that would approve same-sex marriage in those states.